Lauren Willig has an excellent sense of humor and language—masterfully weaving internal and external dialogue that makes turning the pages of Night Jasmine a delight. Her voice is modern and refreshing and works successfully both in the past and contemporary settings as she presents two love stories to readers.

I loved the way Lauren put words together on the page. Her ability to turn an ordinary expression or phrase into something more exotic and poetic is a skill she has honed to perfection. At first it was unexpected and I made note of particular sentences that caught my eye but as I got swept away into the story they became a part of the scenery and the characters themselves.

Robert, Duke of Dovedale and Charlotte’s hero, is a wonderful character. He and Charlotte foil each other perfectly. He makes mistakes and does some seriously foolish things in the name of love but he does it with heart and good intentions. But as they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions… literally in this case.

Charlotte is a heroine who has believed in fairytales all her life until Robert inexpertly dashes her hopes and dreams to smithereens in an effort to protect her. Disillusioned by love, believing herself prone to fanciful childish delusions, Charlotte comes to the conclusion she is not a storybook heroine. She acknowledges her shortcomings and lack of gumption and decides to change all that.

Another heroine from 2004 is studying and researching into the Pink Carnation for her dissertation. Her story is woven throughout Charlotte’s and Robert’s as we break from them to learn more about the present happenings. Eloise is disconcerted that her boyfriend Colin avoids the question of his current line of work now that he’s left his city job. With all the spies and espionage from the past filling her head and random comments thrown in from one jealous woman, Eloise comes to the unlikely conclusion that Colin is a spy. She scoffs at her own foolishness until evidence confirms her crazy theory.

I was so absorbed in the reading I was reluctant to put the book down for any reason. Sleeping and eating just sounded like too much bother. I will definitely be on the lookout for the rest of Lauren’s Pink Carnation series.

Rating: 5 Stars

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To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn was a fairly decent story. There were times in the story when I wondered if the main characters would ever fall in love before the pages ran out. The sex scenes were scrumptious and more than counter balanced the long wait to get to them. Also the scenes where Eloise's brothers participate are quite hilarious from when they darken Phillip's doorstep to when Eloise joins them in a shooting contest.

Sir Phillip was in desperate need of a wife. Since Marina's death, Phillip had come to the conclusion that he wanted his wife to be happy, not melancholy like Marina. Plus his two children were out of control and he had no idea how to handle them. So what he really needed was a mother for them and who better than a desperate spinster?

Of course, poor Phillip had no idea that Eloise Bridgerton had turned down half a dozen proposals. By his letters, Sir Phillip seems the perfect man so when his daring invitation to visit him in the country arrived; Eloise made plans to escape her overprotective family.

Upon her arrival to Sir Philip's home, Eloise is bitterly disappointed. Why Phillip could hardly speak to her! He was a grumpy moody sort, not at all the dashing charmer she'd pictured. He certainly never mentioned his two children in their letters! Reluctant to turn around and go home with her tail between her legs, Eloise decides to stay and stick it out to see if the two of them would suit.

Warning: This book contains mentioning of child abuse. While one can never call child abuse lightweight, it was not graphic. The nanny, Nurse Edwards, was caught beating the children with a book and action was taken.

Rating: 3 Stars

Buy: To Sir Phillip, With Love

Originally posted 2008-12-02 14:44:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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